Epoxides are produced by a variety of techniques. One commercial technique for the production of epoxides includes reacting an olefin with hydrogen peroxide and one or more catalysts in a protic medium. The epoxidation of olefins in a protic medium, however, can decrease the selectivity of the epoxidation reaction. In addition to a decrease in selectivity, the amount of by-products formed during the epoxidation can increase as the epoxide reacts with the protic medium and as the epoxide oligomerizes and/or polymerizes. This decrease in selectivity also increases the costs of production due to a lower yield of epoxides and the steps required to separate the by-products from the epoxide.
As such, efforts have been made to increase the selectivity of the epoxidation process. Such efforts include using pre-treated catalysts and homogeneous organic or inorganic compounds to change the pH of the reaction mixture. However, while the selectivity of the epoxidation reaction may increase in these previous approaches, the hydrogen peroxide utilization, hydrogen peroxide conversion and the lifetime of the catalyst can decrease simultaneously. These drawbacks decrease the efficiency of the production by yielding less epoxide for the amount of materials used.